Fading Shadows
by cam-cats
Summary: Peace is a word long since forgotten among the Clans. RiverClan is gone, ThunderClan is home to slaves, and the Shadow Reign rules all. StarClan hasn't been heard from in ages and cats have lost all hope. Ash is quiet but smart and headstrong, and when murder is attempted on her because she seems to be part of a prophecy, life around the lake changes, and hopefully for the better.
1. Chapter 1 - The Beginning

**Hey. I'm back after like a year. I randomly remembered about this story I had written a while back and decided that I would rewrite it and do my best to continue it. I feel bad for just disappearing but hopefully I can make up for it with a good story?**

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I stared into the roaring, rushing river water, which used to be the border between two of the ancient clans. Things are very different now since the invasion. At least, that's what we call it. I flicked my ears as I heard my name being called faintly. If I want to feed my family tonight, I have to get my paws wet and catch a fish or two. I ignored whoever was yowling my name obnoxiously and stood very still, holding my unsheathed claws over the water. I waited until I saw the shimmering scales of a fish and very quickly scooped it out, just barely missing. My claws caught onto it and I struggled to keep it from jumping back into the water, but eventually I was able to toss it by the tree near my small fresh-kill pile and I sat over it until it died. I was disappointed by the small amount of prey I caught, but it was better than most cats can catch these days. I grabbed my fish and vole and made my way back to camp. If I wasn't there before counting at sundown I would be punished.

A few minutes passed and I was already at camp. I peered in through a small hole in the brambles and saw the Shadow Soldiers already taking count of the older cats. Luckily, they do the young cats last, but there was no way I could just walk into camp late, especially with fresh-kill. We're not allowed to hunt on our own anymore. I snuck around back and wiggled into the old apprentice's den. My sister Ivy looked at me with a surprised but angry expression. I ignored it and stuck my fresh-kill into the corner and kicked some leaves and bedding over it. Then I rolled around in it, trying to disguise the scent.

"Ash, we were worried sick," Ivy hissed. She must have been the one calling my name. "You cut it so close this time, I thought for sure you would be punished!"

I heard a voice from the other side of the den. "You mean _you_ were worried sick. I knew she would make it back in time. She always does. Besides, stop complaining," my brother Reed rolled his eyes. "Without her you would go hungry."

I chuckled and was about to smart talk Ivy, but my ears perked up as I heard rustling at the entrance of the den. A large black and white cat with piercing, evil-looking yellow eyes peered in. He scanned the den, taking count of all seven cats. He turned around, nodding at the other two Shadow Soldiers, letting them know everyone was here. He was about to leave when suddenly he sniffed the air. My heart started pounding.

"What's that scent?" He glared at me, knowing I liked to sneak around behind their backs. They had never caught me, but he just 'had a feeling' that I was trouble. He's not wrong, but I'm careful enough to cover my tracks. I sniffed the air dramatically. The tom was obviously not short on food, and I noticed a bit of fresh blood stained on the white fur on his chin.

"I don't know, Darkpelt, maybe you're smelling the dinner you ate earlier. You've got a little something on your chin there," I deadpanned. He glared at me but considered my words.

"Whatever. I've got my eye on you, _kit_ ," he snarled. With that, he whipped around and walked out of the den. I shrugged and turned around and walked over to the corner where I hid the fresh-kill I had caught earlier. This had to be shared between seven cats, plus whatever Swift had caught.

The oldest cats used tell stories of when every cat went hunting and contributed their prey to a pile in the middle of camp and there was so much prey every cat could go back for seconds. Now we don't have a fresh-kill pile and we don't have elders. The Shadow Soldiers decided that once a cat is a certain age, they will get executed because they can no longer provide services to them.

Swift, one of the seven other cats living in the den trotted over, dropping two mice onto the small unofficial fresh-kill pile. It wasn't much, but we would have to do. Lion, a somewhat large, fluffy, golden brown tom who is pretty easy on the eyes, if I do say so myself, stepped forward to assign prey to us. He basically declared himself leader of the younger cats, but he's good at it, so we don't question him.

"Moth and Dove, since you two are the youngest and smallest, you can share a mouse." Lion said quietly in his smooth, deep voice. "Swift and Ivy, you two can share the bigger mouse. It's kind of a fat one so sharing shouldn't be a problem." My sister tried to hide the excited look on her face but she could barely contain her happiness. I didn't blame her, Swift was a handsome, lean brown tabby tom, but he was a little too arrogant for my liking. Ivy darted forward and grabbed the large mouse and excitedly sat by Swift and they began their meal. It was obvious he was oblivious to her feelings.

"Reed, just take the vole. I know you have a small appetite so it's all yours. If you have extra, and the kits are hungry, just give it to them," Lion continued. The golden tom turned to me. "I guess that leaves us sharing the fish. I have no doubt there'll be extra so hopefully nobody will be going hungry tonight."

I sat in my normal corner as Lion brought over the fish we were supposed to share. It was a silent dinner throughout the den aside from the occasional giggle from Ivy.

As we began to finish up our fish I mumbled, "We're going to live our whole life like this aren't we? Just doing everything in hopes those _shadow cats_ don't hurt us. You know what we're doing? We're living in fear." This was a thought I had often, but not one I normally voice. Lion looked taken aback. I'm usually very quiet. I'm smart and I keep to myself, but right then I was fuming. The tom shook his head. I knew what he was thinking. He was probably just wondering how ThunderClan, a powerful Clan built around strong, loyal warriors, could just be defeated so easily. I wonder the same thing all the time.

"I just don't understand how-" Lion started, but I cut him off. "I know, Lion. As 10 moons we're living the good life. The moment we turn 1 year, it's over. We just join the older cats and get assigned to a cat as their slave." I shook my head thinking of the stories the elders would tell us. The invasion ruined everything for ThunderClan. ShadowClan declared themselves superior and got WindClan on their side. They never would have been able to set foot inside our camp if we didn't have a traitor among us. ThunderClan was short on warriors one season and ShadowClan, always being our biggest rival took that to their advantage. We were small and most of the cats in the Clan were apprentices and queens. ShadowClan invaded us, killing our leader and deputy, taking our strongest warriors hostage, and closing off our camp so that the apprentices and kits could grow up living their lives like this, not knowing any different. They made a mistake of keeping the elders alive, though. For a little while. Once the elders began telling the young cats their stories, it put ideas in our heads. It would be so easy to just leave. We aren't under supervision all the time, but ShadowClan is so powerful they outnumber us.

I closed my eyes, recalling the last cat who tried to escape. My mother, Cloud. Her mother, my grandmother, was an apprentice during the invasion and she was supposed to get her warrior name within a week's time, but ShadowClan ruined everything. The most powerful thing my grandmother Whitepaw could do was tell stories and educate the young cats, but soon, that was made forbidden by ShadowClan. Eventually they had declared no cat shall live past thirteen years, if they make it that far. Soon after, ShadowClan renamed themselves The Shadow Reign. They now have enough cats to split up between hunters and fighters, but collectively they are called Shadow Soldiers. They have a truce with what's now known as the Wind Kingdom. They call themselves Wind Warriors. RiverClan tried to help ThunderClan, but they were outnumbered and they aren't so agile on land. They were driven out and a RiverClan cat hasn't been seen since.

My mother had tried to escape, but no cat has training anymore. She was weak against the strong Shadow Soldiers, and was severely punished for trying to escape. She died of her wounds when my siblings and I were just five moons. I have never forgiven them and I never will. But with no way to escape this wretched place, we're just stuck here. Once a cat turns one year, they are either lined up with the other one years and chosen to be a slave in their camp, or they are kept here at home, with their only purpose to reproduce and keep all of the cats alive. Every cat learns basic herbs as a kit so that we can care for ourselves and two unfortunate cats have their lives dedicated to hunting prey. Two cats are taught basic hunting skills, and if they don't bring enough fresh-kill in, then some cats get hungry. That's why we have to teach ourselves survival skills. Right before my mother died she told me to always cover my scent and that that was one of the most crucial skills one could know. She was right. As long as I can cover my scent I can do whatever I want as long as I am careful. And I am. I know my siblings and denmates depend on me because I am a good hunter. I have considered running away, of course, but I would never make it very far because I'm not in shape. Nobody is. To run away, you would have to keep going for miles and miles as fast as you can before the Shadow Soldiers can find you. No cat has ever succeeded and no cat ever will. We're just stuck.

I looked up and saw Lion staring at me as if he were waiting for me to reply to him. I zoned out.

"Sorry Lion, can you repeat that. I'm not in my head right now." I meowed. The tom chuckled lightly. "Ash, I've been talking to you for a while now. But if you of all cats are zoning out, then something must be up. What's on your mind?"

I laid down and wrapped my fluffy gray tail around my body. "Just the usual. I can't wrap my mind around being stuck here forever. I cannot be a slave to some cat living the good life. That's just not how it's supposed to be. The elders used to tell stories about a StarClan. If it really exists, then how could they let us live like this!?" I exclaimed. Lion just stared sadly. "I don't know but this is just how it is. Nothing will ever change. Every cat born into Thunder will live like this, not knowing anything different. We may as well just live our lives as best as we can make them and try our best not to have kits, because I could never allow myself to have my own kits live the horrible life I lived."

I sighed deeply. "You and me both, Lion."

Both of our ears perked up as we heard the yowl signaling for us to sleep. I touched noses with Lion and curled up in my little scratchy nest. In a way, it was my safe place. No cat has ever been harmed in this den, and I intended to keep it this way. As I got comfortable, I felt exhaustion waving over me. I closed my eyes and let myself drift into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2 - Adrenaline

**I already had chapter 2 written so I thought I'd just post it today, as well. I'm starting to not like chapter 1 the more I read it but I really don't want to rewrite it. If I end up hating it then I guess I'll resort to that. On the doc I wrote this on the chapter seemed so long but on here it seems so short :( Hope you like this chapter !**

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I woke up to a sharp pain in my side. My eyes flew open and I saw Darkpelt standing over me. He was sneering at me and had a very unusual look in his eye. It looked evil. Pure evil. I glanced around the den, hoping in case something happened, somebody would be able to help me.

"Looking for your friends?" He shook his head and sneered. "We've evacuated the camp. Everyone but you. I always knew you were dangerous but part of a prophecy? Very, very unexpected, I must say." My eyes widened in surprise.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Darkpelt. I don't believe in prophecies or StarClan. If they existed, I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." I could feel my heartbeat start getting faster and faster. I truly didn't know what he was talking about.

Darkpelt chuckled. "I'm not falling for this. The Shadow Reign's medicine cat is sacred and trusted among every cat. She woke up late last night and ran into Flintstar's den yowling about a prophecy. There's only one cat among the Thunders with the name of Ash. I know you're behind something and you can either talk and get killed or don't talk and get killed. It's your choice, _kit_."

"Even if I did know what you're talking about I would never tell you anything!" I spat angrily. I began to search my mind for the minimal techniques my mother had taught me before she passed away. But I was frozen in fear and my mind was impossibly blank. Darkpelt shrugged.

"Very well. I don't care that you're only the age of an apprentice. I've killed kits smaller than you before. All it takes is a sharp blow to the neck. You weaklings just can't handle it," he smirked, lifting his paw. I almost called him a snake-brain just then. I barely knew anything about fighting, but I did know that telling the opponent your plan of action was just a sign of an idiot. I slightly turned my body towards the small hole I dug to sneak in and out of and the moment Darkpelt blinked I bolted. Not even Lion could fit in the hole, so I knew I could buy myself some time by escaping through there. I was almost through when I felt a sharp tug on my tail. For a big cat, the soldier moved fast. He must have caught my tail. The immense pain caused tears to pool in my eyes but I didn't stop moving. I couldn't. I could feel the adrenaline pulsing through my veins and finally broke free. I felt very imbalanced and I could tell something was wrong with my tail but I couldn't stop running. I just had to head for the river and cross it somehow. Every cat hates water, including myself, and it would hide my scent if I could get away in time. I weaved through the trees in unpredictable ways, hoping to throw them off, but deep inside I knew there was a big possibility they would catch up. After all, no cat has ever successfully escaped.

My ears angled back as I heard rustling after me. Darpelt must have already warned the other soldiers. I had to move fast, otherwise I wouldn't make it out alive, and I refused to die at the paws of the Shadow Reign like my mother had. I heard the roaring of the river just ahead but hesitated. There was no possible way to swim across it. I knew the cats couldn't be too far behind. I took a moment to glance around to see if I could find any way to cross the river without being swept away.

"There she is!" I heard a female soldier yell. I turned around and watched as seven large cats emerged from the trees. Darpelt was one of them. "You thought you could get away? How cute." The tom lunged and in a heartbeat, I leaped into the river. I fought to keep my head above the water, but it was hard. The current was extremely strong and I didn't even know how to swim. The water splashed my face and blinded me, and in an instant I was pulled under. I didn't even have time to hold my breath. I could feel my limbs weakening and the burning pain in my tail was the only thing I could focus on. I continued to try to paw my way to the surface but I could barely force myself to move. It almost felt nicer, safer to keep myself underwater. I knew I would drown, but death sounded better than living in this world under constant watch of other cats who believed they were superior. I couldn't hold the little breath I had left anymore and shut my eyes tight as the current continued to sweep me away and bitter, cold water filled my mouth. I just let myself let go.

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He had seen and heard it all. He had watched kittens die, innocent cats be attacked under little to no reason, his clan be driven out of their territory for the selfish reasons of another clan. Life was never meant to be easy, and no RiverClan cat would argue with that. He was only an apprentice when his clan was driven out, the only one that survived, and he was respected by many of the cats within his clan. There was talk of him being appointed the next deputy, but in the meantime he led most patrols around their new territory. That was precisely what he was doing right now, leading a small troop past the edge of their territory to address the commotion they had heard. The tom dropped down into a crouch, and signaled with his tail for the rest of the patrol to do the same. He crept forward, keeping his eye out for any rival cats.

"Stormfern, look over there!" Icepelt, one of the warriors hissed quietly. "Those cats look like ShadowClan." The tom jerked his head to the side and saw the shimmer of the sun reflected across the silver pelt of a small she-cat. These big cats were surrounding her, slowly closing in on her and the biggest one, obviously the leader smirked and hissed, "You thought you could get away? How cute," and he lunged at her. The tom was fast, but the she-cat was faster, and didn't even hesitate to jump into the river. One of the cats in Stormfern's patrol gasped and Stormfern could tell she wanted to follow the river and find her where the current ends. He looked over his shoulder and nodded. "Rainwhisper, Mistfall, Icepelt, try to find the kit. No cat loses his or her life in our river. The rest of you stay here and try to listen in on the ShadowClan cats. They may have some useful information.

Stormfern angled his ears towards the triumphant looking cats. "Looks like we didn't have to deal with her ourselves after all. The river should take care of her for us. Trust me, there's no surviving that," the big cat said with a chuckle. The rest of the cats joined in and laughed. "StarClan really thought they could stop us with a prophecy? They practically gave us the names of all the cats involved. It shouldn't be too hard to find the rest," a reddish-brown tom added. The large cat shook his head. "We may know who the other cats are, but do you really think those Wind Kingdom cats will just let us stride in and kill one of their apprentices. You know how religious they are and if their medicine cat was given the prophecy too, which I'm pretty sure she was, then they will try to protect that kit with their life. We may act superior, but they do outnumber us. Good thing we severed all ties with RiverClan. We drove them so far out it's impossible StarClan could have reached them, especially after drying up the moon pool." One of the she-cats stepped forward. "What about the Shadow kit? She's part of the prophecy, too! We can't just kill one of our own, especially when our warrior count is at an all time low." The large tom sneered. "Sure we can. I'll show you how it's done." He turned around and walked confidently into the forest. The other cats reluctantly followed him, their faces in expressions of disbelief.

Stormfern turned to his clanmates. They looked just as surprised as he felt. A prophecy? Impossible. They hadn't heard from StarClan in many, many moons.

"Stormfern," Marshpaw whispered. "I think we should go meet that cat now…


	3. Chapter 3 - Awake

**sooo what's a good way to get everyone to like your story..? lmao i remember reading all these good stories and thinking "wow this story has a LOT of fans" and i wish i could magically make that true for mine. anyway i know this chapter is like way shorter than the first two but it'll get better. hope you enjoy chapter 3 !**

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Stormfern followed the scent of the warriors he had sent to investigate the small cat who had been swept into the river. The scent got stronger as he and his patrol got closer, and eventually they found Rainwhisper, Icepelt, and Mistfall crowding around the she-cat. She was a pretty silver tabby with somewhat long fur and a very fluffy tail. Or what _was_ a fluffy tail. There was blood gushing out of the base of her tail and it was painful for even Stormfern to look at.

"Stormfern what do we do?" Rainwhisper asked quickly. "We can't leave her here to die." Icepelt and Mistfall nodded in agreement.

"If she really is part of a prophecy, then she's important. Her safety is our top priority right now. Try not to hurt her even more on the way to camp and bring her straight to the medicine cat den. I'll go straight to Meadowstar and tell her everything. Hurry!" Stormfern called. He watched each cat carefully grab a side of the she-cat and begin to urgently walk in the direction of camp. Stormfern ran. He followed the path, leaping over rocks and avoiding slippery wet spots. The wind in his fur was a nice refresher, and he felt weightless, problem free for a few moments, but everything came rushing back the moment he reached the camp entrance. Cats were crowded everywhere, sharing tongues and eating fresh-kill. Apprentices were play fighting and elders were sunning themselves.

 _Forgive me, Meadowstar_ , Stormfern thought as he leaped onto the high stone. He was about to make an announcement without her or the deputy's permission, but it was important.

"All cats old enough to hunt fresh-kill gather around the high stone now!" He called. Cats turned around to face him, confusion flickering across their faces. "I know I'm not Meadowstar or Rushflight but I have an important announcement to make." The deep gray tom said with confidence. "My patrol and I followed the commotion we heard near the river and saw _ShadowClan,"_ he hissed. The cats beneath him spat their disgust for their rival Clan. "Not only that, but there was a kitten. I don't think she's ShadowClan but she was scared and they were definitely after her. She jumped into the river to escape them, but luckily we found her alive. The rest of my patrol are bringing her straight to the medicine cat's den, but I need everyone to clear a path so they can get her there as urgently as possible." Stormfern felt satisfied as his Clanmates listened to him, spreading so that the medicine cat den would be easy to access.

"Finally, I need to know where Meadowstar's patrol was headed so I can find her and share with her everything we witnessed today." The cats muttered among themselves, but one of the elders spoke up.

"I believe Meadowstar and Rushflight went to discuss something near the waterfall," Rosesplash rasped. "Oh and Mosscloud went with them," She added. Stormfern nodded and scanned the camp. The entrance suddenly burst open as Icepelt, Marshpaw, Rainwhisper and Mistfall shuffled in. A bunch of cats ran to their aid, helping them keep balance as they carried the she-cat from the river to the medicine cat den.

Stormfern cursed under his breath. If Mosscloud went with Meadowstar and Rushflight then the she-cat wouldn't have any professional help, just whatever Splashpaw could contribute.

Stormfern leaped down from the high stone and walked into the medicine cat den, where the cat was lying unconscious. Splashpaw looked nervous as she scanned the cat up and down.

"I can't do much without Mosscloud, but I can at least try to get the water out of her lungs." The little she-cat turned to Stormfern. "I need you to get Mosscloud as soon as you can, otherwise I'm not so sure we can save her tail." He nodded and spun around, bounding out of camp towards the waterfall. It was RiverClan's most sacred place since they had been driven out by ShadowClan, but only rarely could StarClan reach them there. Stormfern could see the sun setting in the distance and let out a deep breath he didn't even know he was holding.

 _Please let me make it in time..._

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The moment I opened my eyes I knew something was different. I was in a different den with different cats, the scent was that of salty air and the breeze felt so open and sifted through the creaky, old den. Beside me sat two cats, an older one and a kit that looked barely over six moons. I shuffled to my paws as quickly as I could but my vision went dark and I felt very dizzy. The older cat spun around, and he seemed worried. He trotted over to me and I couldn't help but to lean on him as I tried to stand up.

"Be careful now, it's hard to adjust to balance when you've lived your whole life up to this moment with a tail." He spoke calmly. I didn't know what he meant but his soothing voice helped me settle in. I still felt extremely confused, as this den was nothing like I had ever seen before. All around me it was freshly stocked with all kinds of herbs and remedies, neatly sorted onto ledges in the walls. The ground was soft and padded with feathers and ferns. I couldn't sense nearby danger or scared cats, and although the den seemed extremely welcoming, I was still half expecting a Shadow Soldier to come storming in, ready to take me away.

"What am I doing here? Who are you?" I croaked, trying to take a step forward, but only succeeded in stumbling. "Why do I feel so dizzy?" The tom, a deep brown tabby cat looked at the kit. "Splashpaw, would you like to tell her?" I stared at the kit, taken aback. I hadn't heard a name like that before. It was so… odd.

"When we found you a few days ago you were almost dead from drowning and you didn't seem to want to wake up. That's why you feel so weak right now. You're here in the RiverClan medicine cat den because you almost died in our river. It's part of our warrior code to help every cat in need who crosses our border. I am Splashpaw, the new medicine cat apprentice under direction of Mosscloud. And as for your last question, when we found you, your tail was nearly ripped off, but very uneven. It was as if someone had gnawed at it over and over. We tried our best to fix it and get it back on, but I'm afraid there was no way we could salvage your tail." I stared at her shocked. "I'm truly sorry, but with lots of training we can get you walking and hunting and fighting just like you used to. Don't worry, once you get over the disorientedness everything will feel normal again."

I twisted around to try to get a look at my tail. I was taken aback by how short it was. It was nothing but a stub. My long, fluffy, gray and white tail was now a stub. I slowly laid down and tucked my head into my front paws. I didn't feel like doing anything anymore. Mosscloud laid a large fish in front of me.

"I know you may not want to right now, but you really need to eat. Don't let our hard work go to waste by starving to death," he said lightheartedly. He mumbled something to Splashpaw and she nodded and they both exited the den. I began to eat my fish and before I knew it, the whole thing was gone. Not feeling up to anything anymore, I rolled to my side and stared at the stone wall of the den. I was all alone now. I closed my eyes and once again drifted into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
